Probable XI –
Chennai Super Kings –
Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood/Lungi Ngidi
Kolkata Knight Riders –
Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
Small League Combination 1 –
1. Dinesh Karthik
2. Suresh Raina
3. Faf Du Plessis
4. Ruturaj Gaikwad(VC)
5. Rahul Tripathi
6. Andre Russell(C)
7. Dwayne Bravo
8. Sunil Narine
9. Shardul Thakur
10. Deepak Chahar
11. Varun Chakravarthy
– Andre Russell looks safest captain choice considering his 4-5 down batting and full overs with the bowl.
– Taking punt on Gaikwad as VC since he might go big again considering his venue and H2H matches numbers.
– Suresh Raina might be a good pick as he has averaged above 40 at venue and H2H matches.
– Rahul Tripathi holds best numbers at venue and H2H matches which makes him a good pick.
– Dinesh Karthik might be a decent punt especially if top order of KKR doesn’t do well.
– Sunil Narine has taken atleast a wicket/Per game and scored decent runs in H2H matches which makes him a good punt.
– Take anyone from Varun Chakravarthy or Lockie Ferguson as both have done well at Abu Dhabi.
Small League Combination 2 –
1. Dinesh Karthik
2. Suresh Raina
3. Faf Du Plessis(C)
4. Shubham Gill
5. Ravindra Jadeja
6. Dwayne Bravo
7. Sunil Narine
8. Andre Russell(VC)
9. Deepak Chahar
10. Lockie Ferguson
11. Varun Chakravarthy
– Faf Du Plessis looks another good captain choice as he has averaged above 30 in more than 5 venue and H2H innings.
– Dropped Ruturaj Gaikwad as he might not go big in consecutive matches especially while batting first.
– Going heavy on spinners and pacers as they’re expected to be lethal at this venue.
– Jadeja will be a crucial pick with both bat and ball especially if a couple of top order batters from CSK doesn’t do well.
– Can take anyone from Karthik or Dhoni as both will bat at middle order and haven’t been at their best recently.
– Lockie Ferguson might be another good pick as he has taken on an average two wickets per match in 5 innings at this venue.
– Expecting Shubman Gill to play another responsible knock for his team.
Grand League Combination –
1. Dinesh Karthik
2. Ambati Rayudu
3. Suresh Raina
4. Eoin Morgan
5. Moeen Ali
6. Ravindra Jadeja(C)
7. Andre Russell
8. Sunil Narine
9. Lockie Ferguson
10. Deepak Chahar
11. Varun Chakravarthy(VC)
– Raina and Rayudu will be the most crucial picks if openers of CSK depart early.
– Expecting Moeen Ali to score atleast decent runs in this one after getting failed in last two matches.
– Jadeja looks an open captain choice in GL considering his middle order batting and full overs with the bowl.
– Expecting Varun Chakravarthy to pour another magical spell at this surface especially while bowling second.
– Eoin Morgan holds an average of above 30 in 9 innings at this venue which makes him a good GL pick.